Friday, May 11, 2007

Book Review: Every Shot Must Have A Purpose

I just finished reading Every Shot Must Have A Purpose, by Pia Nilsson, Lynn Marriott, and Ron Sirak. It took me a while, because, well, it's not that great of a book.

Here's my review:

This book is focused on the mental and emotional approach to golf, as opposed to swing mechanics. I think that's great. You can pick up some useful insight, and hopefully you can get advice on your swing mechanics in person from a qualified instructor (definitely the best way to go).

The authors give some good advice on how to approach the game. They talk about a "think box" and "play box," which are useful concepts. I picked up a good slogan, "achieve and leave," which I now say to myself when I start getting compulsive on the practice range.

The bad news is that I found the writing to be full of gimmicks and advertisements. They use a lot of UPPERCASE LETTERING for emphasis which drives me crazy because I feel like they're shouting at me (okay, I may have some personal issues here...). They went so far as to trademark the name GOLF54, and they shamelessly promote their schools and some pseudo-science nonsense called HEARTMATH.

If you're looking for a good book on the mental game, check out Golf Is Not A Game Of Perfect (Bob Rotella), Fearless Golf (Gio Valiante), or Extraordinary Golf (Fred Shoemaker).

4 comments:

Dave said...

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, STOP YELLING AT ME!!!!

By the way, Bob Rotella actually did write a follow up book called Life Is Not A Game Of Perfect.

I have three books in the hopper. The one I'm on now is called The Grand Slam. It's a historical biography type book about Bobby Jones, who won the US Amateur, US Open, British Amateur, and British Open all in one year.

Dave said...

Remember, Kate, every whiff must have a purpose. Before you address the ball, you must be fully immersed in the THINK BOX. Calculate your strategy. Visualize you swing. Then step into the WHIFF BOX and make your intension a reality.

Are you going to take more lessons this year? That makes it more fun I think. I like having something to work on at the driving range, otherwise I can end up in swing-and-hope mode.

Anonymous said...

I found that people who don't like this book are the ones who get a jumbo bucket of golf balls at the driving range and hit all drivers. Maybe you should read it again and focus on getting a better golf game, instead of reading about things that over complicate the golf game.

Dave said...

Easy there killer, it's just a golf book!